Kukla's Korner Hockey

SAN JOSE – San Jose Sharks Executive Vice President and General Manager Doug Wilson and Head Coach Todd McLellan announced today that longtime NHL player and head coach Larry Robinson has been named associate coach.

Robinson served as head coach for the Los Angeles Kings from 1995-99 and for the New Jersey Devils from 1999-2002, and in 2005-06, including leading the team to a Stanley Cup Championship in 2000 and the Stanley Cup Final in 2001, before falling to the Colorado Avalanche in seven games.

Robinson has also had stints as an assistant coach with New Jersey, including their 1995 and 2003 Stanley Cup Championship seasons and last season when the team advanced to the Stanley Cup Final against the Los Angeles Kings, falling in six games.

Inducted as a player into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1995, Robinson is recognized as one of the finest defensemen to ever play the game. In 17 seasons with the Montreal Canadiens and Los Angeles Kings, he twice won the James Norris Trophy (1977 and 1980) as the NHL’s most outstanding defenseman and won the Conn Smyth Trophy (1978) as the most valuable player in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Robinson won six Stanley Cups as a player with Montreal (1973, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979 and 1986) and holds the NHL record for playing 20 consecutive seasons in the playoffs, 17 of them with the Canadiens. His name appears on the Stanley Cup nine times as a player, head coach and assistant coach.

A ten-time NHL All-Star, Robinson also had a distinguished international career playing for Team Canada in the 1976, 1981 and 1984 Canada Cup (he was Sharks GM Doug Wilson’s defense partner in 1984). He was named to the NHL’s First All-Star Team and NHL Second All-Star Team three times each.

In 1384 regular season games with Montreal and Los Angeles, Robinson posted 958 points (207 goals, 751 assists) and 793 penalty minutes. Among all-time NHL defensemen, he ranks ninth in points and assists, and 13th in games played. His +730 plus/minus rating is the highest among any player in NHL history (the second place player, Ray Bourque, is more than 200 points lower {528}).

Other career honors include: Ranked 24th on The Hockey News’ list of the 100 Greatest Hockey Players (1998); Inducted into the Ottawa Sports Hall of Fame (2000); Inducted into the Canada Sports Hall of Fame (2004); Had his No. 19 retired by the Canadiens (2007); Named Best Defenseman in Montreal Canadiens history at the team’s 100th Anniversary celebration on Dec. 4, 2009.